During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the U.S. economy was terrible under then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris. But according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures, unemployment stayed under 4.0 percent from February 2022 through...
Most people have no idea what FDIC is. They have confidence in banks because “that’s where you put money”. They have no concept of what their personal bank failing would mean.
If Musk said he was shutting down the FDIC, the vast majority of people wouldn’t care until after their bank failed. By then it would be too late.
I agree that most people have no idea what the FDIC does currently. But if the FDIC did disappear, people would be educated very quickly. When I say “people,” I mean enough people are currently aware of it that the FDIC’s disappearance would immediately trigger a complete bank run on every bank in the country. And if the FDIC did dissolve, you can be sure that the media would be breathlessly reporting on what a catastrophe it is. That alone would trigger mass bank runs.
And I would push back on the idea that there is nothing that could be done, that it would be too late. At that point, I imagine Congress would step in. They would reestablish the FDIC and restabilize the banking system. They could simply say that all bank deposits are going to be retroactively protected, and that the Federal Reserve will print whatever money is necessary to make people whole again. That could be done. And enough wealthy and powerful people would be screaming at Congress to do this, that I think even the Republican Congress would do it. I don’t trust Congress to do what is needed to protect the poor. I do trust them to do what is needed to save their own hides. I don’t trust a Republican Congress to prevent a bank from screwing me over with sketchy fees. I do trust a Republican Congress to act when their own life savings are being wiped out.
Thus I don’t think people need to a prep for a complete and permanent collapse of the banking system. I’m recommending more that people, if they are able, to have enough currency to buy food for the few months it might take for Congress to restabilize the system and for Musk to be tied to a boulder and thrown into the ocean.
Most people have no idea what FDIC is. They have confidence in banks because “that’s where you put money”. They have no concept of what their personal bank failing would mean.
If Musk said he was shutting down the FDIC, the vast majority of people wouldn’t care until after their bank failed. By then it would be too late.
I agree that most people have no idea what the FDIC does currently. But if the FDIC did disappear, people would be educated very quickly. When I say “people,” I mean enough people are currently aware of it that the FDIC’s disappearance would immediately trigger a complete bank run on every bank in the country. And if the FDIC did dissolve, you can be sure that the media would be breathlessly reporting on what a catastrophe it is. That alone would trigger mass bank runs.
And I would push back on the idea that there is nothing that could be done, that it would be too late. At that point, I imagine Congress would step in. They would reestablish the FDIC and restabilize the banking system. They could simply say that all bank deposits are going to be retroactively protected, and that the Federal Reserve will print whatever money is necessary to make people whole again. That could be done. And enough wealthy and powerful people would be screaming at Congress to do this, that I think even the Republican Congress would do it. I don’t trust Congress to do what is needed to protect the poor. I do trust them to do what is needed to save their own hides. I don’t trust a Republican Congress to prevent a bank from screwing me over with sketchy fees. I do trust a Republican Congress to act when their own life savings are being wiped out.
Thus I don’t think people need to a prep for a complete and permanent collapse of the banking system. I’m recommending more that people, if they are able, to have enough currency to buy food for the few months it might take for Congress to restabilize the system and for Musk to be tied to a boulder and thrown into the ocean.